Safe Haven

Heads up: this will be an offensive post. The people who tut-tut the Catholic Church's soteriology and sacramental system as a "sacramental treadmill" are right. So what? What do you have against treadmills? Do you like being out of shape? On the one hand, I loved Jerry Bridges' "Transforming Grace". It takes the time to remind you of all the wonderful Scriptures about God's love for us in Christ. That never gets old, and it never should. (Lord, have mercy!) But I never realized until I was Catholic how much Protestants confuse the subjective experience of God's (often overwhelming) attracting love with false "Reformation" assertions about the atonement, "faith alone", etc. We did it all the time. He doesn't mean to, but Bridges is confusing these 2 things, and he's twisting the Scriptures. That's why we need a Magisterium; not because we don't know how to read, but because we do. It is asserted that Catholic...

Just read this . Did you catch The Question? "What is the Church?" People my age and younger are asking this question, and it won't go away. It seems abstract, but it's not. As I have written probably a thousand times, I'll do it again: People need to know what God said in the places closest to their lives in order to be Christians. This is why infallibility MUST be part of the discussion. When God speaks, He speaks without error. A sectarian is nothing more and nothing less than a person who believes that God is speaking inerrantly to him. And it's a reasonable choice; you need infallibility somewhere. But the Noltie Conundrum  comes to cast more than a reasonable doubt on any particular view I may be holding, by taking the bad faith, "Well, he disagrees because he's stupid, sinful, etc." out of the equation. It works because it's a strictly theological problem. Ask it this way: "What does it say about God that the Holy Spirit is speaki...

5. I almost died from the joy of reading this . No, I'm not joking. It's the little things. 4. "Will the Progressive Bullying and Insanity Ever End?" Department. 3. Gloat at your own risk, Sterling-haters. It's all a party until you're the pariah. Just ask Eich, or Dan Cathy. Do you think these emotionally-immature intellectual lightweights who run our culture won't move the line of "socially acceptable" and "prejudice" and crucify you on it? Good luck with that. 2. All the more reason to ground a society's baseline morality in something more than majority opinion, BTW. I'd like to slap every "Enlightenment" "thinker" right in the face. Ah, but, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." Yes, Lord. 1. DO IT!  You're right; it does get my Counter-Reformational juices flowing at least 23 percent of the time. But it's awesome, seriously. I read it every day. I don't even wat...

I really appreciate this from Dan Haseltine. And...I told you so. It really is about Sola Scriptura. Here's Dan: "I care about what scripture says. It matters. The second round of poorly chosen words surrounded the clarity of scripture. I was trying to communicate that although we often say, “Scripture is clear about this or that,” the very fact that so many people disagree or have alternate perspectives or interpretations of scripture, means that we have to move beyond simply quoting a scripture to prove our point. We have to dig into the scripture and help translate it and offer context. Simply quoting a scripture can stall out a good honest dialogue. But what I wrote was: “Never liked the phrase: “Scripture clearly says…(blank) about…” Because most people read and interpret scripture wrong, I don’t think scripture “clearly” states much of anything regarding morality.” Did you catch that? He might as well say, "The interpretive crisis caused by the alle...

5. Dear Heroic Fighter of Communism, I will be happy to read your book...for something less than $175. [You just didn't want to spell his name, did you?--ed.] Guilty. 4. I can't really spell "Gulag Archipelago," either. 3. Do you think What's-his-name would have enjoyed Kenny Loggins in a less-intense version of his life? 2. I wonder if John Paul the Great liked Kenny Loggins? [Seriously, what's with you and Kenny Loggins?--ed.] He's awesome. 1. If I were not white, and therefore disqualified from speaking on any matter of consequence involving race [sarcasm]--unless I parroted the usual progressive nonsense about my unworthiness to speak--I'd say the Los Angeles Clippers are a bunch of cowards. Sure, change your socks! Put on a hoodie again! Your courageous ineffectual symbolism will destroy racism forever!

5. Money doesn't make you wise. 4. Degrees don't make you smart. 3. That said, I'm not sending them back. 2. If that wasn't the worst St. Louis winter ever, then I am a ficus. 1. [It's late April, you pansy.--ed.] Exactly.